Tonight my internet connection went down. AGAIN.
This is not the first time that I have had this problem with Shaw. I doubt that it will be the LAST time I have this problem with them. But the very fact that I am here and ranting about it indicates that this is much more than a passing annoyance in my life. I feel as if a lifeline has been disconnected, as if I am sitting in the dark, unable to reach out to the rest of the world....
Hi... I'm Pam and I am an internet addict...
Okay I fully admit it. I need the internet like I need air and water, and, on occasion, food. I spend a great deal of my time online, either working, surfing or just hanging out talking on ICQ. It is part of how I socialize, how I do research, and how I connect with the world at large. And so I am willing to pay premium prices in order to have a "live" connection that will allow me to be online all the time.
But I don't really GET that kind of service from Shaw. What I really get is frustration and patronization from the company and their services representatives. I get a virtual pat on the head every time I call to find out why my internet connect is down again. I get treated as if I were a moron every time I try to get a simple answer as to why my email is not working for hours at a time... And frankly I am getting very sick of being treated this way by a company that I pay to provide me with consistent and QUALITY service.
And so I have finally taken another step in dealing with Shaw@home by writing the following letter to their help centre (internet.help@shaw.ca for anyone else who wants to write an email regarding the @home service):
To whom this may concern:
As a long time customer of both your Shaw Cable and Shaw@home high speed internet service I feel like I have put up with a lot. Since installing the @home service I have had to deal with quite a bit of "down time" from this service. I have been suddenly bumped offline, gone DAYS without being able to get my email, or have dealt with really slow download times. When these things occur not only do I try and deal with them in a timely manner, I make sure that you are alerted to my distress.
And what has this got me so far? Often I am either not able to get through to a service representative, or I am shuttled from one person to another; I have been treated as a hostile customer, as a problem customer, and as an unreasonable customer, but I am none of these. I simply want to get the services I pay so dearly for every month.
Now, when I am paying PREMIUM prices to get high speed cable internet to my home, I expect that I will also get some quality customer service from your company to go along with it. I do not expect to be treated as if I am stupid just because I happen to be a female, but so often that is the reaction I get from the @home customer service people I have phoned. In fact, this happens more than I care for with your company. To me, this shows a distressing lack of customer care.
I am weighing options in my mind right now as to whether I wish to continue obtaining services from Shaw. For the past year my husband has been trying to convince me to switch to Sympatico high speed for their more reliable service and faster download rates. But I have foolishly felt that the @home service was the better choice for our internet needs. And being that I am the person in the household responsible for decisions of this kind, we have stayed with Shaw despite the constant frustrations and lack of empathetic customer service I have received.
Now I am not so sure that your company is the best choice. Beyond the annoyingly frequent disconnections, I am getting frustrated by your lack of response to queries and concerns by myself as well as many of my friends and family on your service. Not only are we treated as annoyances, we are given pat answers with little or no hope for a satisfactory solution. Since this is the case I have begun to seriously rethink staying with your service.
Unlike all other complaints I have lodged with your company, I expect that this email will be answered. I would like a response, I feel I deserve a response. In fact I feel I deserve a $40 credit to my account for the frustration that I have had to put up with as of late and the treatment I have received from your representatives when I have tried to ameliorate the situation.
do not ignore this email. I am reasonably easy to get a hold of, and really do deserve some kind of response. Feel free to contact me via email at: moonie@home.com pmb124@mail.usask.ca or by phone.
I look forward to hearing from you.
